The Troubled Times: Part II (Ver. 1.1)
by Justsomeone1
Summary: Takes place three months after the first. Tragedy unites, then seperates the ducks, bringing them face-to-face with Draguanus' scheme. Version 1.1 (fixed typos, slightly rewritten).


Rain slowly trickled off the building rooftops after another day of miserable weather in Anaheim. Of course, under the lumps of glass and concrete buildings, below the underbelly of the highway system lies the Mighty Ducks of the Anaheim Pond. Duke and Nosedive were caught up in the storm on the way to the Anaheim Mall and now themselves stuck underneath the highway, looking for cover, while the cars continued flying by above them, rattling the concrete pillars below.  
  
"Geez, Kid, and I thought Anaheim was supposed to have great weather." Duke mumbled, readjusting his coat a bit, and looking out for the Pond over the horizon.  
  
"Remind me to fire the stupid travel agent on Puckworld that recommended this place!" Nosedive shouted up to the cars. Even when he wasn't in a great mood, Nosedive could always manage to make a crack.  
  
There was plenty to be worried about in Anaheim currently. Draguanus had successfully carried off with over fifty millions dollars worth of advanced defense circuitry, not to mention tons of raw material to build his newest project. The ducks were unable to prevent most of the robberies, and even with the ones that they had thwarted, Draguanus still made it a complete success. As a result, for the last three months, Anaheim has been completely silent. Draguanus had not reared his head at all, and the Mighty Ducks were growing increasingly edgy by the hour. They were expecting what could amount to doomsday and they felt powerless to prevent it. Even with constant monitor duty, twenty-four hours a day, nothing was bringing the heroes any comfort. The police had no explanation for the citizens of the city, and no one, not even Anaheim's top scientists, could accurately pinpoint a common denominator between the stolen parts. So far, all they knew was whatever was built; it would be a weapon of mass power or a fortress of immense capabilities.  
  
Finally, the two ducks had reached the Pond, and Nosedive took a quick dash across the parking lot, racing just for fun. Nosedive was fast, but Duke's training helped him capture the edge. He gave a dashing grin while he stood at the front door, waiting for Nosedive to catch up. Over the past few weeks, they've been in each other's company even more often. Nosedive was learning all the tricks of the trade when it came to thievery, but he knew his brother wouldn't be happy to know Nosedive could be classified a pick-pocket. He now had the ability to break through any lock in the Pond and he had a skill with padlocks. Duke now gave Nosedive yet another test, by locking the front door and timing Nosedive as he worked diligently at the lock with a paper clip. Within fifteen seconds, he was inside the lobby with Duke.  
  
"Who would've known paper clips are so cool!"  
  
"Great job Kid. I wonder what Wildwing would think." Nosedive flashed a slightly uncomfortable smile as he headed towards the stairs.  
  
Wildwing was another matter altogether. Nosedive had said three weeks ago that he hated his brother after a heated argument. He still had visions about how much those few words had scarred the mallard, completely abolishing his sense of power and leadership over the teen. To the team's dismay, neither sibling was talking with the other, even though they both desired it more than anything. Nosedive didn't know why he couldn't bring himself to apologize to Wildwing. Holding out was only making the situation worse. Besides small and muted orders on part of Wildwing, he had no real interaction with his big brother anymore. They never spoke even when watching movies, or eating together, which had also become rare in itself. The other ducks watched the two brothers in silence and could only feel pity; they know how close they were prior to the latest saurian offensive.  
  
These thoughts and many others were racing through Nosedive's busy mind as he followed Duke into the living quarters. Never did going home present more of a challenge. All the Mighty Ducks seemed extremely demoralized after Draguanus' string of victories. Most of the time, there were strategic meetings and tactical conversations that bored the teenager. Today was no different. Down at the very end of the hall, the other ducks were in the ready room, checking out surveillance and discussing the robberies, still the topic of the day. Nosedive sighed as he hung up his coat. Duke locked the door and put his keys away, following Nosedive into the ready room. They might as well join the conversation.  
  
Just as expected, the three mallards were discussing the robberies, trying to find similarities between the different materials. Tanya threw about a variety of ideas over the past three weeks, but the only thing she could determine for sure that whatever this project was, it was going to be something large and dangerous. Wildwing stayed quiet, nodding his head when needed and tossing out a few short phrases here and there. The ducks couldn't remember a recent time when the mask was not firmly glued to his face. Nobody knew how he currently felt, because the mask was always curved into its angry face of determination, overpowering the avian underneath. All the ducks did know for sure was that he was feeling all but confident through the past few weeks. Upon entering, Nosedive came face-to-face with that mask for a short time, before it turned away in a slow, pivotal movement, back to Tanya, who was busy overlooking visuals, trying to decipher each stolen component's use. Mallory shot over a sympathetic glance to the two brothers and walked over to them, trying to find a way to coax them into speaking.  
  
"So, how's the weather?" she gave an almost innocent smile to Duke and Nosedive.  
  
"Not good…" Nosedive admitted, lowering his head. He felt absolutely ashamed to be standing so close to his brother. Once in a while, he sent up a small glance to the white mallard. Even though the mask seemed to be aimed away from him, Nosedive could feel that Wildwing's eyes were giving him sad glances regularly. The teen slowly backed away, as Wildwing felt his heart slip a notch when he realized the teen deliberately shifted out of sight. All he wanted was for his brother to apologize, to be able to hold him again and be the good friends and brothers they had always been. Instead, he felt all his heart being unmercifully taunted by Duke, Nosedive's friend and confidante. The two were inseparable, Wildwing seeing the gray mallard taking his place in Nosedive's life, making him madly jealous. Under the mask, his beak was twisted into a snarl, his burning eyes scanning every movement Duke made, feeling the urge to pounce on him and take his brother back forcefully. Often, Wildwing felt guilty for wishing he could hurt his teammate, but he would never admit to himself that he secretly wanted Nosedive to himself, so the violent thoughts stayed, brewing in his dreams, but tightly locked up behind his physical exterior. After a couple of minutes, Wildwing grew tired of watching Duke and turned away again, now looking off into space, his eyes fighting to combat the tears. The mask had acted as the perfect shield…nobody knew that underneath was a devastated duck, dying on the inside because his most treasured relationship had fallen apart. The mask was the only thing literally holding him up, making his mannerisms heroic and giving the illusion of himself being the team's pillar of strength. Tanya looked over, noticing that uncomfortable atmosphere hanging over the room now that Wildwing was distracted by Nosedive's presence.  
  
"Maybe we continue later…I just don't want to look at this anymore." Tanya mumbled, turning the screen off and heading out, rubbing her eyes as if they needed to be flattened out. Mallory followed. Only an awkward silence left the three remaining ducks stuck, unsure of what to do.  
  
Nosedive pointed his head down, slowly shaking it in disappointment. He just couldn't find the words to say, but he felt his brother's pain. He was standing there, facing away, waiting and hoping to hear the words and end this stalemate. The two never really talked anymore except when Wildwing gave orders to follow. Nosedive had complied without question, unable to argue back because of the guilt holding him prisoner for his past offense. Now, the teenager's spunk all but withered away when anywhere near his brother, something the whole team had missed. He usually could light their moods, but since he felt like a washed-up clown, he just couldn't bring himself to crack a joke or pull pranks on the others.  
  
"Kid…don't you have something to say?" Duke whispered in the teen's ear, pointing over to Wildwing, unmoving, as if he was a statue. Nosedive only gave a deep sigh and turned around, walking away shamefully down the hall, back to his room. Duke soon followed, leaving Wildwing alone to himself. From under the mask, a single tear had escaped captivity and softly splattered on the cold, metal paneling of the floor.  
  
Draguanus was sitting in his throne inside the Raptor, miles outside the city, now parked next to the site of his project. It was massive, a recycled version of one of his original schemes, quickly defeated by the ducks, and only by half of them as well. It was a humiliating loss of material and droids, but this time, Draguanus vowed to himself that this time was going to be different. He spent months, examining the specs and trying to find a way to protect any of its weaknesses. He had stumbled over a major obstacle in his planning. Unfortunately, the new project lacked an emergency protocol, but the lizard smiled to himself. He knew that once the Raptor was safely inside the new project and he had taken station within his new command center, the weaknesses would be safe and his would be able to destroy Anaheim. All of a sudden, his thoughts turned to the sound of slow footsteps, light and infrequent. The dragon turned to see Wraith, looking up at the screen and shaking his head like he was dissatisfied with the whole thing.  
  
"Lord Draguanus, I don't see how your plan will work." Wraith murmured, crossing his bony arms and watching the mindless robots assemble the project with calculated accuracy.  
  
Draguanus found it very entertaining to watch, but unfortunately, he was experiencing a lot of disgruntled attitudes on part of his three saurian lackeys, banned from leaving the ship as to not notify the ducks of their location. Siege was often destroying something in boredom, while Chameleon was actually disobeying Draguanus and sneaking out in disguise, often hanging out at the Anaheim Mall, where his mayhem for a couple months prior was now repaired and the shoppers seemed to have forgot about it. Wraith had the hardest time blocking out the memories of those caught up in the attack and spent many nights trying to undo the psychological damage so that the world wouldn't spread news of their existence. Chameleon often stayed out of sight, regularly slipped off, as a way of avoiding his angry companions. Wraith, meanwhile, was now fixated on the idea that this new plan would not work, and Draguanus grew increasingly angry with his little objections to every step of the work.  
  
"What is it now?" Draguanus rubbed his temple, waiting for the next complain to turn and growl at.  
  
"Draguanus, why not accept facts? The old saurian magic would be very beneficial to your project and defeating your enemies. I'm telling you; without magic to assist you, this project of yours is doomed to failure." He rattled off without the slightest hesitation. It was the same presentation, practically rehearsed and once again, flawlessly presented to the stubborn villain.  
  
"You know that I'm about ready to lock you up…" Draguanus turned back a vicious eye to his lackey.  
  
"That wouldn't help matters, you know that." Wraith frowned. "I see new ways in which to attack the ducks and capitalize on their weaknesses, but you continue to insist on this technological nightmare."  
  
"Oh, really?" Draguanus spun the throne around, leaning towards the scraggly saurian and eyeing him amusedly, as if mocking him. Wraith sighed again, continuing to look at the screen, and then back to his master in time for his following words.  
  
"I haven't seen you hatch any good schemes to rid me of those blasted ducks." Draguanus sent him a malicious look, as if to condemn his earlier judgments.  
  
"Lord Draguanus. It is not my responsibility to capture the ducks, but I do think I'd be qualified to advise you."  
  
"And all you say is the same tale, to learn the saurian magic."  
  
"It's far more reliable then any of those mindless robotic minions." Wraith pointed his long staff towards the screen.  
  
"This is getting old…" Draguanus growled with impatience. He hated Wraith's calm voice, always harboring its constant, calm tone along with a firm resolve that never succumb to anger unlike he. Draguanus continued to see the glare of Wraith's glowing red eyes and once again conceded to his hot temper. "Then do something about the ducks then!" he suddenly smashed the armrests of his throne, spinning back around to focus on his work. Wraith excepted defeat and humbly headed out of the room, coming up with a small demonstration to show Draguanus the importance of the saurian magic…  
  
The Mighty Ducks were set to play another hockey game, this time against the Los Angeles Kings, meaning that the city rivalries were at their best. Even though the fans were practically calling for blood, the ducks couldn't help to feel tired and disinterested in the game, especially since they were continuously looking for Draguanus. Phil had tried to cheer them up with a special appearance, at an all-you-can-eat buffet or all places (Nosedive's favorite kind), but the ducks remained quiet and withdrawn from the fans, earning them some negative publicity. Now the manager was stuck, watching them suit up in the locker room without a single word being spoken. Their glazed and exhausted eyes seemed to stare off into space as they filed out into the rink, the fans sending out an energetic pulse that did little for the weary hockey players. Nosedive and Duke had become the start attraction, since their double-team plays were the only thing keeping the declining team on the side of victory. However, this particular night was special to Wraith, because he had decided to use this opportunity to give a little demonstration of his powers in order to show Draguanus the value of saurian blood and heritage.  
  
It was late in the second period, and there had been a gridlock between the two teams. The score was tied 5-5 and the fans were taking turns screaming for their team or booing their opponents. The idea of territorial pride was still one the ducks didn't particularly grip. During one of the breaks, Tanya skated up to Duke, who was discussing yet another plan of attack with Nosedive.  
  
"What's with these humans? I don't understand how we can be cheered and booed at the same time." Tanya said, staring out at the crowded stadium. It was so packed, the teams began to feel a little claustrophobic down in the rink.  
  
"Man, these guys are just jamming tonight!" Nosedive proclaimed in better spirits, waving to some fans who turned up the cheering another notch.  
  
"Kid, keep your mind on the game." Duke said, tapping the teen's helmet and making him turn back into their huddle. "I think position D is going to do it for this game." He said, flashing a small mischievous grin.  
  
"Oh, come on. You know you only like that one because you look cool and I don't. Let's do Plan H instead!" Nosedive gave an even bigger smile, nudging Tanya on the side. Even she knew he patented leapfrog technique that had turned into a masterful art, drawing cheers and screams, besides giving the announcers something to talk about.  
  
"Now who's trying to look good?" Duke sneered, eyeing Nosedive with amusement.  
  
"Well, it always looks better when I do it…after all, I'm the cute one!" Nosedive made a wide smile, stretching his beak to such extremes that Duke moved back in surprise.  
  
"You're going to break your beak if you keep doing that Kid. That kind of smile should be outlawed!" Duke moved out of the huddle, readying to take the next play Nosedive's way. All of a sudden, the teen stood up and rubbed his beak with one of his gloves.  
  
"Ow! Geez, something snapped!" he said, moaning unhappily, drawing a quick smile from Tanya and laughter from Duke.  
  
The final play of the night was in full swing, and as expected, Mallory sent the puck over to Duke, with Nosedive in quick pursuit. The clock was down to ten seconds. Duke slowed down slightly, the first step of plan F. He leaned forward to lower his body, extending his hockey stick farther in front, brushing the puck rapidly back and forth. The screams immediately commenced when Nosedive leaped over his friend, snatching the puck and blasting it into the goal, leaving their opponents dumbfounded. The scoring buzzer went off and half the stadium stood, screaming and chanting for the ducks, now that they had won the game and successfully beat Los Angeles, which in turn, exploded in a chorus of boos. Yet, even among the vibrant atmosphere, everyone was thrown into a flurrying panic when the sounds of gunshots erupted in the arena…  
  
Wraith was up in the top rows, watching the people flee for their lives, crying and screaming in a raging panic that held the arena. All over, people were falling over each other, children were crying for their parents, and the announcers were screaming for someone to call 911 over the loudspeakers. The assailant, an over eager hockey fan of Los Angeles, was easily trampled to death by the neighboring people, trying to either become heroes themselves or flee in a nightmarish panic. Wraith saw the shattered plastic boards and the frightened hockey players, rapidly skating out of the rink, swearing in disbelief. The ducks were equally taken by surprise, Wildwing immediately switching into battle mode and surveying the scene. He looked around and saw the ducks rallying towards him, until his eye caught a glimpse of Nosedive, laying in the distance, Duke at his side. Wildwing and the team frantically crossed the ice…as Duke turned up to them.  
  
"He wasn't hit." Duke sighed, turning Nosedive over and revealing his frightened expression.  
  
"What the hell happened!?" he stared up at the ducks all surrounding him before jumping up himself.  
  
"Some crazy fan just started shooting!" Mallory exclaimed, looking up to the shattered boards of Plexiglas and the newly arrived police, who were trying to maintain control of the situation.  
  
"Let's get out of here!" Wildwing shouted under the mask, motioning the team towards the locker room. He wanted to give Nosedive a little assurance, but his feelings were still much too impaired to be able to comfort the teen.  
  
"You alright, little buddy?" Grin said, as they took off their hockey uniforms. Wildwing walked in, switching out of battle mode and began undressing too.  
  
"Who were they trying to hit?" Nosedive gave a concerned look, facing the hockey rink again.  
  
"Don't know, but thankfully it didn't hit anyone…" Tanya followed with her own glance towards the rink. Neither one could see any bodies among the ice, which was now dominated by police officers, examining the scene.  
  
"Boobies!" Phil came in, letting a gigantic sigh to see all the ducks were well and accounted for. "Those crazy Los Angeles people! What did I tell you? It's crazy over there!" he clambered, frantically hoping around the room to get a personal inspection on each of his players.  
  
"Relax Phil, you're making me dizzy." Duke quipped, grabbing the man from his near-delirious descent, and forcing him to take a seat.  
  
"I need to make some calls…geez, looks like it's back to the quack for me." The whole locker room and gave him a confused look. "Uhhh…I mean, psychologist." He corrected himself, flipping rapidly through his address book.  
  
Down in the ducks living quarters, the moods were very somber about the previous game's results. They couldn't figure out who those gunshots were trying to hit, and were thankful that none of their own was taken down in the brutal assault. They could hear the commotion brewing above their heads, but continued to watch the television, seeing the reporters continually assuring the Anaheim audience that nobody was slain, especially among the ducks. Wildwing turned off the television and stood up, facing the rest of the ducks, who watched him with serious glances.  
  
"I think we should all be thankful that none of us were hurt tonight. If anything, this barbaric attack was a reminder of our mortality. It reminds us not to take each other for granted and demonstrates how much we mean to each other." He said, turning his eyes towards Nosedive, who could only see the mask in return. "I want to take a moment to thank every single one of you, for all your hard work, for your dedication, and to hope that we are all going to be with each other for a long time to come. Pray to the stars that we are never stolen away the next time this may happen. I'll be thanking the Great King tonight for not taking any of you from me and this team. We need each other, we really do. I'm so proud of this team and believe me; I won't take this as a freak accident. I take it as a lesson; don't take anyone for granted. Cherish out time together, because we don't know when the next gunmen may take someone we love deeply away…" Wildwing trailed off, his words running through the minds of his team, each one reflecting on the reality of the situation. They could have been taken from the world tonight, their quest for justice ending at the hands of an unstable man, with a gun.  
  
Nosedive sat quietly, staring at his brother and feeling so proud of him, fighting back tears after Wildwing sat back down. He couldn't shy away longer; to crawl away in shame. He had to solve his conflict now, before that next bullet could be fired. He stood up, looking out over his beloved team, who had in turn, returned with hopeful glances. It seemed his brother had the right idea, because Wildwing took the mask off, his face once again revealed to the group for the first time in many days. It looked at him, a weak smile and moist eyes, looking at him as if he was almost begging for his upcoming words.  
  
"No one…had taken this team, and one particular duck, more for granted than I have. I feel embarrassed and ashamed to do this right now, but I have to do it, I have to say it because I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life, and it hurt the one I love the most." Nosedive had said a little hoarse, facing Wildwing, his hand outstretched. His brother gently took and stood up, looking at his little brother with heavy compassion and fighting back the urge to tear up himself. Nosedive began to sputter a bit as he continued, fighting back his heavy emotions.  
  
"Wildwing…I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you…I was so stupid to say what I did. I swear to you and this whole team that I never hated you, not even for a second. Big bro, you're…my hero…you always have been…please forgive me!" he froze, the tears running down his face, looking at his brother with a pleading look.  
  
"Little bro…" Wildwing said, moving closer, extending his arms and grabbing his brother in a warm embrace. His beak had come up to his brother's ear, and he began to form a word.  
  
"No."  
  
Nosedive jumped back, absolutely stunned. The rest of the Mighty Duck were completely shocked; even the teen was shaking his head in denial.  
  
"The more I think about it, the more I think you were better off back on Puckworld, you miserable brat." He emitted a bitterly low growl that the other ducks had never heard before. Nosedive was trembling; he couldn't believe what he was hearing. His face wrestled with tears, his heart visibly attacked and unmercifully ripped from his chest, as his brother devoured it, with the newly replaced mask, now adding to the insult, hysterically laughing at the teen in his unstable mentality. Shaking uncontrollably, the teenager started moving away, his feeling overwhelmed, and he took off into the night, running from the Pond, dances of suicide dancing in his head in sickening twists, forcing his body into small convulsions as the tears were spread over the ground. He headed right past the police tape, observing crowds, and into the night, unable to look back, his mind buzzing with disbelief. Nosedive was losing his sanity. Back in the Pond, the rest of the team stood there stunned…unable to look their leader in the eyes, who had not moved since he said those words. Their states of denial were only broken when the large frame of their leader had collapsed, shattering the table as it laid, snuggled in between splinters of wood in glass, in a state of complete peace. The ducks got up, quickly taking him to the infirmary, unable to concentrate on anything but those cold and fatal words the white mallard had said earlier as they tried to revive him.  
  
Wraith cracked a small, sinister smile as he stood, unseen to the eyes of man, in the top bleachers of the Pond. He made that man fire the gun, never deliberately meant to kill anybody, but only to cause a complete scene of panic. He snickered as he mentally followed the ducks, watching their minds twist with agony over the whole incident. He saw the beautiful, little speech by their leader, falling into his trap exactly. In their weakened state, it was all too easy for the saurian to invade the mind of the dashing, masked hero. He vividly recalled the desperate look on Nosedive's eyes, yearning to be forgiven and have his brother back. Although it partially inflicted a slight bit of pity on the saurian's part, he was dedicated to striking the ducks at their most crucial moment. He took over, holding Wildwing prisoner as he crucified the teenager, verbally killing him in the process. Putting the mask back on, he knew it be the icing on the cake. As soon as the teen had ran into the night, the saurian gave up his hold on the mallard, who was trying to fight back with all his will power. "Unconsciousness…" he murmured, now on the roofs of Anaheim, watching over Nosedive, who tore into the night, completely mindless.  
  
"Lord Draguanus had better appreciate this." He grunted, as he disappeared into the shadows, following the child as he continued to run into the impending night.  
  
Wildwing had come to a few moments later, looking up into the eyes of his teammates, who all exchanged glances of anger and disappointment. Duke stood back, violently clutching his fist, his veins coming to the surface, tightening with the feelings of rage that shook the older mallard. He slowly turned over, and sat up, looking at the birds from under the mask, their penetrating stares pushing beyond the metal and circuitry, stabbing him in the eyes, and making him tremble with the realization of what he had said. He looked at his hands and towards the others. He couldn't bare to remove his mask; it was the last line of defense, the last thing separating any fiber of dignity to the jackals inhibiting the crowd. They never felt more sorry for Nosedive, to be absolutely decimated in the most destructive fashion possible. Wildwing shook his fists and tensed up, caught by sickness, punishing him with painful waves of guilt.  
  
"What have I done?" he cried out, his eyes painfully tearing up and the urge to cry stronger than ever before. He couldn't even remember saying the words…only the look on Nosedive, the young and happy teen who had suddenly melted away into a silent and ravished child. All that vitality was dead or dying out in the night, beyond the reaches of the Pond.  
  
"You bastard!" Duke stood up, furiousness motivating him to attack the leader, to hurt him in just the same way he hurt Nosedive. Somehow, he was able to prevent himself from viciously lashing out, and took off, out of the room.  
  
"I can't believe you said that…" Mallory looked at him, her eyes wider than ever before, her tough and sculptured exterior now succumbing to the blow of pity and disbelief.  
  
"Why, Wildwing, why?" Tanya cried out, a single tear showing in her eye. Never had she witnessed such a verbal lashing, leaving all of her pity was poured upon the teenager, now alone out there in the cold night. She was never one to be particularly attached to the idea of emotion, but after the suffering both brothers had endured, and to have Wildwing shred the last fibers of hope apart, gave her a shock that her system wasn't able to absorb harmlessly.  
  
"Our little friend is seriously troubled and susceptible to almost anything now." Grin put his head down, his eyes solemnly shutting, falling back into meditation. He knew that Wildwing was gripped by something foreign when attacking Nosedive, but he didn't know what was the cause of that disturbance.  
  
"I…I…lost control…I can't even remember what I said…" Wildwing shook his head and put it in his arms. The remaining ducks continued to look down at him. Their bright and dashing leader was falling frail, his emotional pains now shining through and painting him in a whole new light. No longer was he the neutral, rock-like bird jumping into battle and mindfully inventing plans of attack. He was now ruined, his one most important emotional link severed by a moment of blindness. No longer could the mask hide the tears, or prevent his battered face from showing through the disguise. Wildwing took off into the night, after his brother, before he would wallow in the depths of self-pity and completely fall apart. He had to get Nosedive back; it was all on the verge of collapse and the continuing memory of the vow he sworn in the starving, nightmarish camps were now pushing him with uncompromising energy. Wildwing had to win his brother back; or die trying.  
  
"Wraith, what have you done?!" Draguanus gave an angry growl towards the robed saurian as the view screen showed Nosedive running through the streets. He had stopped crying at this point, just running tirelessly, oblivious to everything around him, even traffic.  
  
"Lord Draguanus, what have I told you?" Wraith complained, switching the staff between his hands as if bored. "Saurian magic is necessary to your conquest. That duck is a demonstration. Look how I took the laughter and the comedy out of his life. He's unstable now, and at our mercy."  
  
"Well…" Draguanus gazed at the screen again, his frustrated tone starting to die down a bit. "…I must admit, you truly seemed to have broken his spirit. How?"  
  
"Simple. Put an act of devastation out there and when their emotions are in control, you take control." Wraith bantered off, watching the teen, now running through a park.  
  
"So, where is he going?" Draguanus snickered, now growing amused with the situation.  
  
"Here." Wraith replied dryly.  
  
"WHAT?!" Draguanus immediately rose from his seat, furiously looking at Wraith and beginning to steam from the mouth.  
  
"Don't worry. You think he'd go back to the ducks? If you capture him, he could be…well, let's say, extinct."  
  
"I didn't want any of them to know about this project, no matter how their condition may be!"  
  
"Ah, but Lord Draguanus. You would possess the greatest advantage in holding on to him. Think about it. What importance does he have to the team?" Wraith asked inquisitively, waiting for his master's reply.  
  
"Ah ha, I got it! That damn leader, Wildwing, is this kid's brother. Hmmm, maybe I can make this work…" Draguanus said, rubbing his arched chin and continuing to watch the screen.  
  
"Siege! Chameleon!"  
  
The two saurians appeared almost instantly. Siege seemed extremely eager to escape the boredom of the Raptor while Chameleon stood almost entirely still, patiently awaiting his orders.  
  
"Fetch that duck!" the dragon pointed to the screen, shaking his other fist violently. "We're adapting to a slight change in plans."  
  
"Finally, some action!" Siege gave off a mighty grin, smacking his fist into his palm. Chameleon turned his head, accompanying the sentiment with a smile.  
  
"Try not to damage him too much." Wraith added, drawing a suspicion look from the large saurian. After all, he was acquainted to taking orders from his fellow lackey, but hesitantly accepted the condition anyway. He and Chameleon quickly disappeared and Draguanus and Wraith quickly faced towards the screen to watch the action.  
  
Nosedive continued to run, his lungs gasping for air, but his heart kept demanding for him to flee, to escape everything and hide under a rock for eternity. He was past tears, his eyes tired of crying, allowing him to run unimpeded. However, even though he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, Novedive couldn't help to see two flashes of green light in the distance. The duck drew to a stop when he saw Siege and Chameleon, about fifty yards ahead of him. By then, Nosedive reached the outer rim of the city, far from the lights of the Pond and the attention of people. He was alone, versus two saurians who were trying to quench their boredom.  
  
"Come here kid." Siege barked, taking slow, steady steps forward. Chameleon followed along, grinning maliciously.  
  
"Beat it. I'm not in the mood." Nosedive demanded impatiently, his red eyes focused on the approaching saurians in boiling anger and a small hint of concern.  
  
"Come quietly or we won't have to hurt you." Chameleon squealed, almost like a little kid, as he morphed into a carbon copy of Siege. The extra strength may come in handy he had figured.  
  
Nosedive, true to his name, dove off to the side, and into the nearest alley, spotting a fire escape and scaling up the stairs. One level shy of the roof, the two saurians began shaking the metal casing, making the fire escape bend and creak, loosing its support. Nosedive could feel it coming off the building, and he took a wild leap to the opposite building, holding on to a windowsill, feet dangling about four stories off the ground.  
  
"Stay here, I'll get him!" Siege growled, his big sulky frame smashing the biggest entrance and disappearing inside the building. Chameleon watched the teen desperately trying to get his footing to continue the escape. However, the young duck lacked the energy and dangled there, awaiting his doom.  
  
All of a sudden, the Chameleon could feel himself flying, stars swarming around his head in a dance of unconsciousness. Before closing his eyelids, lying in a pile of trash, he saw the skinny frame of a duck standing where he was a second ago. Duke had arrived on the scene and looked up to Nosedive.  
  
"Kid! Jump!" he called out.  
  
"Uh, I don't know if that's a good idea!" Nosedive called back, seeing in the crack of the window that Siege was approaching him.  
  
"Do it now!" Duke shouted back, seeing the teen fall. Duke attempted to break his fall by catching him, but the teen came down awkwardly, so both ducks fell to the ground, feeling a little bruised.  
  
"Ouch, good idea." Nosedive said, rubbing the back of his leg and moaning.  
  
"Hey, at least you're on the ground…" Duke stopped mid-sentence, grabbing Dive's arm and evading the stream of shattered glass from the window Siege had punched out. He yelled after them, but it was too late, Duke and Nosedive had vanished out of the alley and quickly jumped on the Duckcycle, taking off into the night once again.  
  
"Oh, this is rich…" Wraith gave a grin at the misfortunes of the two simpletons, now watching the Duckcycle take off. "It seems they can't even capture one single duck, how pitiful."  
  
Draguanus yelled into his com, verbally lashing his lackeys for their obvious failure. By then, Chameleon had woken up, only to have his headache amplified by the degradation. Siege's usual sly smile faded as he tightened his expression towards the com, his head bobbing back as the waves of insults continued. Wraith slowly approached Draguanus and the screen, watching the cycle and wondering if he should make an attempt to capture them himself.  
  
Duke and Nosedive pulled over a few blocks from the scene, looking back and sighing with relief.  
  
"You alright, Kid?"  
  
"Oh, yeah. Never better." Nosedive stated sarcastically, inspecting his outfit for damage.  
  
"So much for Draguanus being gone."  
  
"Why does it seem I'm always thrown into the fryer?"  
  
"Lucky, I guess."  
  
"Well here." Nosedive said, handing Duke a rabbit's foot. "Now you can be the lucky one."  
  
Duke cut him a small smile, returning the charm and looking out over this section of town. The streets were desolate, sand blowing over the empty scene. Small, rickety buildings were hugging each other as they pitifully bowed down to the power of the night. This was definitely not the good part of town.  
  
"So, what are you doing all the way out here? That's quite a distance record." Duke realized that he was changing the subject to something he knew the teen didn't want to confront. He verbally cursed himself since there was no way to take it back.  
  
"What do you think I'm doing?" Nosedive turned towards Duke again, his eyes looked ready for a fight. "I'm going away."  
  
"From the team?"  
  
"You heard Wing…I'm just a liability."  
  
"Kid…fearless leader's a little messed up right now. I don't think he meant what he said.  
  
"How could you not mean something that cruel?!" Nosedive gave a look of near-condemnation, making Duke feel the conversation was about to take a swift turn in the wrong direction.  
  
"I…I don't know." Duke gave up the argument. It wasn't worth it to the gray mallard to challenge Nosedive any longer. His eyes began to drift over the scene, to the sky, among the buildings, but then he caught glimpse of something. It seemed like a small speck above them, a black dot against the moonlight sky. Duke figured it might have been a very large insect, but without hesitation, leaped, slashing it apart with his duck saber. The light ping of metal bounced off the ground, unexpected to the two avians.  
  
"What was that?" Nosedive was now looking up, looking on in confusion.  
  
"I got no idea, Kid, but whatever it was, I don't think it was good."  
  
"That miserable duck broke by spy droid!" Draguanus once again rammed his fist into the armrest, steaming with anger. "There goes two weeks of my work! Damn ducks…one day, I'll send them a bill for all the broken contraptions."  
  
"Well, Lord Draguanus, machines were meant to be broken." Wraith replied, turning away as Siege and Chameleon had finally reappeared, prepared for another tongue-lashing.  
  
"Wraith, this all your fault!" Draguanus shouted, pointing and clenching his fist at the old saurian, who faced him again, slightly taken by surprise.  
  
"My fault?"  
  
"Yes. If you didn't send the kid off into the ambush, they'd have never known about the spy droid! Now they are minutes from the Raptor and could discover our plans!"  
  
"It isn't my fault if the ducks smashed your machine, Lord Draguanus. I could have cloaked it, but since saurian magic is useless to you…"  
  
"SHUT UP! Before I do something I know I'm going to regret…" Draguanus paced around the room, seething hot to the touch. He had no idea how he would be able to locate the ducks without the small droid, much less know if they had discovered his plans already.  
  
"Plans have changed. Put all the robots on the new project. We have to finish now!" he barked to the saurians, quickly disappearing to do his bidding. Time was now of the essence for the lizard tyrant, folding his arms and watching the fruit of his labor take shape before his eyes.  
  
"Duke?"  
  
"Yeah, Kid."  
  
"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore?"  
  
"I thought we were in Anaheim?"  
  
"Figure of speech…"  
  
"Oh! I remember, whoops!" Duke snickered at his naivety, a bit embarrassed.  
  
"What I really mean is what's that?" Nosedive pointed, and Duke stopped the Duckcycle to get a good look. Over in the distance was a very tall hill, at the base of a chain of mountains. However, the geographical features weren't what forced their observation over. Nosedive noticed that there seemed to be something large on the top of the hill and that the mound itself was emanating a weird reddish glow. Definitely, this was not the run-of-the-mill land feature.  
  
"Hmmm…" Duke wished he could get a closer look, but from their position, he could only see a dark speck on top of the distant hill. "I have no idea, but do you think we should check it out?"  
  
"No, I should sit here in wallow in self-pity! Of course we should go!" Nosedive sarcastically snapped, a hint of his teenage persona returning to his attitude. Duke smiled; the kid was getting his mind off the chaos at home it seemed.  
  
Even though the hill appeared to be only a short distance away, it was actually about an hour away by Duckcycle. Anaheim's lights flickered away and soon the two ducks found themselves far out of the city limits, heading for the gigantic hill unfolding in front of them. Whatever they had seen on top of the hill was now out of sight, so their curiosity continued to propel them forward. Stopping at the base, the two ducks wondered if they should head up the hill by foot or take a chance with the noisy vehicle.  
  
"Well, Kid, what's your call?"  
  
"Depends on what's up there."  
  
"You won't see it until you get there."  
  
"Well, the cycle would be easier, but it that is something bad up there, they could hear is.  
  
"On the other hand, it may be just some weird stone formation and if we climb up there, it'll definitely be annoying to have to come back down."  
  
"Yeah, but you saw the red glow. Something's weird here." Nosedive looked up. Even now, over the top of the hill, facing to the sky, was an ominous red glow that grew in intensity as they neared it.  
  
"Well, that being the case, let's go stealthy then. Follow me Kid." Duke whispered, taking out a hook and tossing it up, roping a tough and stable branch. The two began to climb the hill, grunting over the rocks and keeping their eyes focused upward. They had to find out what that glow was.  
  
Another Duckcycle was out on the streets, blazing through traffic and scanning the area for signs of the ducks. Wildwing was growing more worrisome, because he was unable to locate either of the two ducks, even though he checked all their favorite locations. Even the mall had not even a faint sign of either duck, which was a bitter disappointment. The white mallard found a small hill with a view to look out upon the city and take a moment to himself. He had still harboring shattered feelings, but the mask with battle suit had let the duck once again take the reigns of leadership, now preserving his sturdy form and keeping it focused on the mission at hand. Talking to Nosedive was one thing, but helping the two lost allies was his first priority.  
  
"Come on, where are you two?" he suddenly caught something, very irregular out of the sign of his eye. Over on a hill, far upon the horizon, Wildwing believed he spotted a weird reddish glow. At the same time, the mask blinked, noting the readings of two life forms near the base of the hill. Wildwing immediately dashed for the bike and sped into the night, heading for the hill at maximum speed.  
  
Meanwhile, the two ducks had finally reached the top of hill, a bit tired, but glad they had made the descent, because they had finally seen the Raptor, parked next to what looked like a giant pit, where the brilliant red glow was originating from. Sneaking to the edge, Nosedive and Duke snuck a look and could see a massive fortress being constructed. The frame was done and the large army of drones were busy working on smaller, more technical jobs. Nosedive pointed out that Siege was actually standing on the flat deck that made the top of the fortress. He was watching the work, wandering from place to place, looking bored by the lack of action. Duke pulled back Nosedive when he saw Siege turning his gaze towards the two, and they decided to head over around the circumference of the hill, still darkened from nightfall, to hopefully reach the Raptor and obtain a little more information on their discovery.  
  
The Raptor hissed and belched steam, giving the ducks ample cover. The ship seemed undefended, and unexpectedly, it wasn't even cloaked against the ducks. Nosedive and Duke knew that something was up since all the activity was in the pit, occurring at a furious pace.  
  
"It's almost like they're pushing to finish…" Duke thought aloud, scanning the Raptor for a good point of entry.  
  
"What is that giant fortress anyway?" Nosedive replied, his suspicious gaze looking over to the glowing pit as he rubbed the bottom of his beak in thought.  
  
"Whatever it is, we got to destroy it." Duke said with determination, bringing Nosedive's attention to a small exhaust vent, their way in the Raptor. Quickly discussing his plans with Nosedive, they looked out for any signs of trouble before dashing for the vent. They were about to jump out from their hiding spot when Nosedive yanked back Duke, nearly making him double back over the edge of the hill.  
  
"What was that for?!" Duke muttered, a little humiliated. Nosedive gave a grin and pointed out something he spotted, a security camera directly facing their plotted path.  
  
"You idiot." Duke stood up and waved, much to Nosedive's protest. "It's off…" he glanced back, crossing his arms and frowning.  
  
"Well, excuse me! The cameras don't exactly tell you when they're off!" Nosedive replied, standing up and looking Duke in the eyes.  
  
"Well, let's see. For starters, the activation light isn't on, and second, it isn't moving. You can also tell by the…"  
  
"Alright! Sorry, I'm wrong, your right, oh great one!" Nosedive gave an exaggerated bow to his friend. The older mallard flashed a playful smile and nodded his head in mock pride, then quickly dashing over the shadows to reach the exhaust vent.  
  
They both had an easy time getting in, but maneuvering through the ship's ventilation system was a nightmare, particularly due to its poor lighting. The loud sounds of cranking gears and shots of hot exhaust started the teen as he bravely tried to follow the gray duck, feeling a bit intimidated in such the small, enclosed space. It took several minutes, and two dead ends later until Duke found a small grate that freed them from the metallic intestine. Kicking the grate open, Duke propelled himself out, grabbing the grate mid-air before it hit the ground, all in a fluid movement that had greatly impressed the younger duck. Nosedive tried to come out in a somewhat similar movement of grace, but his leg got caught in a small hole borrowed into the shaft. He ended up dangling in the air, humiliated and waving his hands for help. Thankfully, Duke, stifling back some laughs, dislodged Nosedive's leg from the ventilation shift and got him upright with making too much noise.  
  
"Kid, ya really got grace, don't ya?" Duke's shoulders shook with silent laughter.  
  
"I…meant to do that!" Nosedive beamed, but the joke failed to cover up for the fact he humiliated himself. It was quickly forgotten when they saw they were in the ship's prison.  
  
"This is unbelievable…" A voice startled both of the ducks and turned around. Bladebeak was sitting in his cell, staring at the two with utter surprise. Never had he expected his two enemies to come crashing into his prison.  
  
"Eep…" Nosedive began to whimper, but Duke assured him, heading towards the bars and looking at his old foe, laughing at the irony.  
  
"Well, looks like your boss got tired of you." Duke mocked him, standing back out of reach when Bladebeak jumped to the bars, trying to grab out at them.  
  
"Just a step closer." Bladebeak dared the older mallard, but Duke shook his head no in an amused smile.  
  
"Duke, let me out of here."  
  
"What's the magic word?"  
  
"NOW!"  
  
Nosedive replied with a buzzer sound. "Try again buster." He mocked the bird, who get the attention of the prisoner, threatening him under his breath.  
  
"So, you like being a jailbird?" Duke cracked up at his pun, backing up beside Nosedive.  
  
"Look Duke, this is serious. I've been locked up here for many weeks now. Draguanus is concentrating his full attention on some kind of weapon. You could use my help. We can pull a truce and stop him!" he explained hastily, holding the bars and flashing them a more sincere look. "I don't like you and you don't like me, but right now, we both know that this thing is too big for one of us to handle."  
  
"So now you want to help us defeat Draguanus?"  
  
"The bum took my weapons and locked me up in here for the last three months! I'm ready to tear his vocal chords out!"  
  
Duke gave a suspicious glance to Nosedive, who returned it. Neither of them wanted to free the duck, but if what he was saying proved to be true, they might need his help. Thinking for a moment, Duke gave a hesitant nod. Nosedive spotted the keys on the far wall, and handing them to the gray mallard, Duke freed his former rival, the suspicious look never leaving his face.  
  
'Thank the stars I can get out of this miserable hole!" Bladebeak proclaimed, spitting back into his cell. He shot a little devious look at Nosedive, making the teen nervous, yet Duke jumped up in between the two.  
  
'Don't you pull anything!" Duke hissed, baring his teeth a bit at the dark duck.  
  
"Trust me Duke, geez…" Bladebeak rolled his eyes, delivering a sharp blow to the front door of the prison, flying back around its hinges and slamming into the wall, making a resonant boom that echoed down the corridors.  
  
"You idiot!" Duke snapped at him. "You're trying to give us away you fool!"  
  
"Duke, wake up. There are no robots or guards. They are working to finish the weapon. It's this way to the bridge!" Bladebeak took the lead, with the other two ducks in hot pursuit.  
  
Wildwing looked up at the hill, his duckcycle parked next to the other one he found, knowing for sure that Nosedive and Duke were somewhere in the vicinity. Figuring they went up the hill, he decided to call in on his com first.  
  
"Tanya here."  
  
"This is Wildwing. I found Duke and Nosedive, but there's something suspicious on this hill that you and the others might want to come and check out. Get here fast!" he said, turning the com off and looking up the hill. The signs of disturbed rocks indicated that it had been recently climbed, so the leader decided to follow.  
  
The throne room was empty, something hauntingly suspicious to Duke when he entered the large chamber. The screen was still fixated on the scene in the pit, and they believed to have noticed Draguanus now standing down there with Wraith, overlooking the construction. The three ducks quickly ran up to the control panel, trying to figure out the controls, but since none of them comprehended saurian, they were forced to experiment. Duke pushed a deep purple button and a camera clicked on, showing a view of the very spot where Duke and Nosedive were hiding out earlier.  
  
"Well, now we know about the camera…" Duke replied.  
  
Bluebeak decided to pull on a lever and the lights in the place flickered on and off. He moved over as Nosedive tried a teal button. All of a sudden, the windshield wipers appeared on screen, wiping the camera watching the construction site.  
  
"Wow, he even included the extras!" Nosedive sheepishly grinned, deactivating them and backing up to allow Duke another turn. Suddenly, Bladebeak bolted off to the side, dodging a laser blast that smashed into the control panel, igniting a spray of sparks.  
  
"Crap! Draguanus is going to get me for that one!" Chameleon gave an embarrassed look of worry and moved over towards the control panel, his eyes on the three ducks.  
  
"So, boogerman, what are Draggy and the rest of the scum convention up to?!" Nosedive pointed his finger, eyebrows arched, trying to adopt a powerful stance. Chameleon rolled his eyes, unimpressed.  
  
"Come on, duck, even you can see it right there." He muttered, cocking his gun and holding it back up to the avians.  
  
"We never saw that before." Duke said, peering over to the saurian, which looked as if he was ready to call for help.  
  
"Drop it, Chameleon!" Bladebeak dashed for him, but quickly leaped off route when he was greeted by another laser blast coming from the door.  
  
"Ah, so our prisoner escaped…" Siege grinned, happy at the opportunity to get in on some action.  
  
"Oh man, the geek squad is reforming." Nosedive backed up with Duke, the attention focused on the third duck, now getting up and ready to charge again.  
  
"Take Chameleon!" Bladebeak shouted, jumped towards Siege, surprisingly knocking the saurian off his feet and wrestling with him for the laser rifle, which landed right outside the door.  
  
Duke charged for Chameleon, Nosedive taking off to the side. As expected, the saurian attempted to counter the frontal assault first, but was taken aback with he was nailed in the side be a puck shot. Duke looked over to see that Nosedive had actually brought one of his weapons with him.  
  
"Never leave home without it." He remarked smugly, blowing at the barrel in traditional cowboy style.  
  
Chameleon got back up, and noticing his laser rifle was out of reach, started to morph into a large ogre with four arms. Smashing them into the ground, he broke a pipe underneath the floor that shot open, hissing steam intensely. Nosedive rolled out of the way, just barely missing another fist, crashing into the floor. Duke tried to come around the back, but the third and fourth arms swung behind the saurian's back, grabbing Duke and tossing him overhead, landing gracefully to the side of Nosedive. The ducks got up and grinned.  
  
"Time for plan C." Duke gave the thumbs up.  
  
"Thinking the same thing." Both ducks activated their skates, and began circling Chameleon rapidly, diving under and over swinging fists, trying frantically to mow down the heroes. Duke and Nosedive gave each other another thumbs up and they immediately dove to the sides of the saurian, ramming into him full force. Morphing back to his regular state, Chameleon gasped for air, and collapsed to the ground, using his last bit of energy to transport himself out of the battle scene. The two ducks were satisfied, but quickly rolled across the floor away from each other when a duck saber blade swung between them. The both turned to see Bladebeak, sword extended, with Siege watching in the background.  
  
"So much for trusting you..." Duke snarled, taking out his saber. "Kid, take care of Siege!" he yelled, drawn into another round of swordplay with his old rival.  
  
Nosedive looked around for his puck blaster and saw he had left it over by the broken bit of floor. Siege was already charging for him, so the teen quickly jumped over to his gun, rolling to his feet and spinning around with the weapon cocked.  
  
"Stop right there!" Nosedive commanded, forcing the saurian to stop in his tracks obediently. Yet, Nosedive failed to notice Siege's tail, which sweeped his legs, causing the saurian to re-initialize his attack.  
  
Nosedive was thankful that the giant, orange simpleton was much too stupid to snatch his laser rifle before coming over, but his massive body frame was too much for the duck to handle alone. He tried to leap out of reach, but Siege caught him, throwing him hard into the wall. A loud thud accompanied Nosedive landing, the dazed hero collapsing to the floor in a heap. Pretending to be unconscious, Nosedive watched for when Siege went towards him. Nosedive sprung to live, sliding in between Siege's stubby legs, grabbing his puck launcher and shot another puck, wrapping Siege up and making him spill to the floor, struggling to free himself.  
  
Across the floor, Duke was attempting to hold off his assailant, who hadn't seemed to lose his touch even after a few months of incarceration. In a clockwork fashion, Bladebeak had successfully snuck in a kick among the barrage of attacks, knocking Duke to the ground and giving the enemy both blades. Trying to slash Duke rapidly, the older mallard slid to the floor, kicking straight up to knock one of the blades out of Bladebeak's hand. Duke rolled backwards, flipping over this enemy, grabbing his weapon in mid air, and deflecting a couple of slashes before landing on the ground. Bladebeak tried to rush him, but only manage to take a chunk out of the wall, shooting out a steamy mist that forced both ducks to separate. Bladebeak, on Nosedive's side of the rift, attempted to attack him after dispatching Siege, but the teen spun to the side, dashing across the room so Duke would be able to intercept. Sure enough, the gray mallard quickly rejoined the fight, blades flying around in swirling patterns, an impressive light show for the viewers. Nosedive took a quick second to watch, but quickly came up with a foolhearty plan. Dashing to the keyboard, the young duck began pounding on buttons, trying to find anything that would fire a weapon. Instead, he caused the alarms to go off and alerted Draguanus to their presence.  
  
"Crap!" Nosedive muttered, but then fiddling with a red joystick with a button on top, he discovered the ship's laser. He tried to get the weapon to fire into the pit, to hit the project, but unfortunately, the ship was turned at such an angle that it was out of range. All of a sudden, Nosedive felt himself floating and began to fly above the room, above the concentrated look of Wraith and the continuing duel, to land violently against the opposite wall, seeing stars and successfully falling into unconsciousness.  
  
"Nice try, but pointless…"Wraith snickered, but in return, received a stinging blow to the back of his head, sending the old saurian to drop his staff and tumble across the room to join Siege on the floor. Duke swung his blade to earn a moment of escape from Bladebeak and caught sight of his leader, Wildwing, on the scene.  
  
Surveying the scene with alarms blazing above them, Wildwing caught a glimpse of his brother, knocked out in the far corner of the room, and went to join him. Unfortunately, Draguanus suddenly appeared directly in front of the avian, hissing curses and forcing him into battle. Wildwing lunged for the lizard, shooting pucks rapidly. The dragon was able to deflect most of them, and sidestep the white mallard, which in return, shot an explosive puck, spreading the distance between them. Wildwing took a couple quick steps to his brother as he was coming to.  
  
"Baby bro…" the reunion cut short by yet another interrupting arrival. Chameleon had returned to the scene, using Siege's dropped laser rifle to take down Wildwing. Nosedive, still groggy, saw his brother fall beside him, before he began to pass out again.  
  
Duke was the only one left on the battle floor, having successfully escaped Bladebeak by leaping straight up, deflecting a swing of the enemy's blade and delivered a kick to the gut, sending the bird to the floor. However, upon landing, Duke was forced to surrender now that all four saurians were back up, posed to attack the duck. Duke deactivated his duck saber, replacing it on his shoulder while holding his hands up. The battle had ended in a victory for Draguanus and his allies.  
  
"Get him tied up and hurry!" Draguanus barked to his minions. "Who knows how far behind the rest of the ducks are!"  
  
Nosedive began to stir a bit, still heavily dazed. The teen was slumped to the side, feeling the hard battle armor of his brother, the masked face bent to the floor in unconsciousness. Duke was on his other side, looking to Draguanus and eyeing Bladebeak, who was now back up, staring at the gray mallard with a thirst for revenge. Draguanus was at the controls, yelling in triumph as he lifted his hands to the sky. Nosedive saw on the screen that the giant machine in the pit was beginning to emit loud noises, much like a rocket taking off. Duke turned his attention to the visual, and they both gasped as a huge, massive frame of metal began to lift out of the pit. Massive guns were mounted on the sides, rockets with violent red frames pushing the huge vulture to the morning twilight above. Draguanus' eyes lit up at the sight of his new weapon, raising to the skies above at a slow and steady pace, roaring with mechanical power and potential destruction. Soon, the Raptor began to shake as the ship had slowly moved above them, and soon, the screen began to shift its view. Slowly, the Raptor was levitated into the giant beast, darkness shrouding over it as it entered the blackness of the cargo bay. The loud snaps and booms of locks coming into place lit up the screen with a flurry of light. They were successfully docked inside. Draguanus began to back away from the controls, eyes shinning with evil brilliance.  
  
"I did it…I finally did it!" he announced, turning back to the line up of ducks with his evil eyes shining in delight at his advantage. Wildwing was starting to stir now, and was soon joining the others in taking in the new sight and the eager Draguanus, commanding his lackeys to lock up the ducks in the new dungeon.  
  
"We'll bring you down Draguanus, you'll see!" Wildwing tried to spew out one of his daring lines, but Draguanus only repaid him with a crooked smile and an unimpressed scoff.  
  
"Save it, duck! I don't see how you could ever be confident, even when my victory is at hand!" he backhanded the leader, snatching the mask off his face to Wildwing's disapproval.  
  
"I'll keep this as a memento!" he laughed manically, fingering the artifact in his scaly hand. The mask, normally a sign of strength and power, looked feeble and tiny in Draguanus' massive palm.  
  
"Take them away!" Draguanus began another fit of laughter as Siege, Chameleon, and Bladebeak each grabbed a prisoner and led them away.  
  
Outside the Raptor, the three heroes looked at the massive storage bay that the former headquarters of Draguanus' ship now resided in. Spare materials were littered throughout the massive floor, the whole area almost the size of the Anaheim Pond's hockey rink. The ducks were taken into a side door, lead through a variety of repetitive corridors, into an elevator, which would transport them into the prison ward. However, the sight seeing tour was going to be cut short, because when the group reached the intersection at the entrance to the prison, Bladebeak deliberately pulled Duke away in a separate direction, drawing protest from the saurians.  
  
"Get him back here!" Siege had yelled out, about to run off after him.  
  
"This duck is mine…worry about your own prisoners!" Bladebeak shouted out, dragging Duke down the hall swiftly as Nosedive screamed after his friend.  
  
Chameleon got on his com and called for the robots, which momentarily appeared and started pursuing the two renegades down the corridor while Nosedive and Wildwing, both actively concerned and struggling to free themselves, were tossed in separate cells by the two saurians. Chameleon slowed outside the door while Siege turned down the hall in hot pursuit. The action was quickly terminated when the main door slid shut, locking the two remaining prisoners in the dungeon. Nosedive paced back and forth, worrying about Duke when a voice had reached him from the next cell over.  
  
"Are you alright, little bro?" came Wildwing's voice, slightly muted and more recessive without the fortification the mask gave it.  
  
"You're one to be calling be 'bro' after the things you said." Nosedive spat, sitting on the hard bench and watching the front door, hoping that Duke would be safe.  
  
"I didn't mean those things I said…" Wildwing whispered calmly. For a moment, there was no response from Nosedive's cell, but a small sniffle had caught Wildwing's attention.  
  
"Leave me alone…" Nosedive's voice was trembling, the pain apparent to the older mallard. Wildwing sighed, bowing his head in shame and sat silently in his cell, hearing a couple more sniffles before they tapered off.  
  
Bladebeak was viciously dragging a dumbfounded Duke down the hall, hearing the sound of robots heading after them. They swung around corners, heading through any doors they could find, but soon, Bladebeak stopped, opening a door and tossing the mallard into the blackness, himself entering immediately after. The sounds of pursuit came closer, raged outside the door, than tapered off as Bladebeak turned on the lights, grinning to himself.  
  
"Why did you help me!?" Duke demanded, standing up, even with his hands bound and very little ability to defend himself, he still tried to adopt a posture of confidence.  
  
"Sometimes you are very funny, you know that." Bladebeak chuckled, slowly reaching for his duck blade, and activating it. Duke flinched, expecting attack, but only found his bonds sliced off, the mallard then deactivating the blade, still holding it with tense hands.  
  
"Alright, Bladebeak. Spill it." Duke backed up, reaching for his own blade in defense,  
  
"Isn't it simple? Those damned saurians will not take my vengeance from me. You and I still have a little score to settle." He gave another smirk, his hostile intentions shined through the deep blue eyes. Being a slow and tactical descent towards Duke, the two blades shot out into the tense air for yet another showdown between the two.  
  
The Aerowing was blazing in the morning sky, on the way to the sight of the disturbance that Wildwing had reported. Tanya was running almost constant scans while Mallory and Grin kept watching the horizon for the hill they were looking for. Finally, after a few minutes, they found themselves directly over the hill.  
  
"Tanya, what's the deal? There's nothing down there!" Mallory yelled back to her.  
  
"It seems that whatever was here was just recently evacuated." She said, staring into the monitors, rubbing her eyes to battle the weariness. "However, since our scanners were blocked beforehand, I can't tell you what was there beforehand."  
  
"I'm sensing disturbances." Grin said calmly, narrowing his eyes as if to focus. He caught a slight shimmering of something on the other side of the mountain and could feel the auras of his friends aboard, one locked in a violent struggle for their life.  
  
"Where…hey, look!" Mallory pointed it out, taking the ship over in the direction of the object she had seen.  
  
"I can't penetrate it with our scanners, Mallory. It appears to deflect everything." Tanya mentioned, turning from the screen and looking out the main window with the other two. Upon crossing over the mountain peak, they caught a glimpse of a massive floating fortress, with a flat platform on top, swarming with robots, who immediately began shooting out at the Aerowing.  
  
"I don't believe it, Draguanus built another battleship!" Tanya gasped as the plane began to spin into defensive maneuvers.  
  
"It's massive!" Mallory exclaimed, pulling the Aerowing out of another group of laser blasts.  
  
"Our friends are inside." Grin added, pushing some buttons to return fire.  
  
"It this is what Draguanus built for the last three months, I'm seriously disappointed…" Mallory's tone changed to something of an unimpressed tone.  
  
"We had an easy time downing the last one with the BRAWN, remember?" Tanya recalled the memory of the last battleship, sunk in record time with half the team disabled.  
  
"If they ever made a show about us, that would be a good, condensed episode." Mallory tensed, flying in erratic patterns to pull the Aerowing out of harm's way. Now the large guns, on the sides of the ships, began to fire as well, an earth-shattering boom rippling the air as the Mighty Ducks saw a massive piece of a mountain collapse.  
  
"One shot like that and we'd be Thanksgiving dinner!" Mallory exclaimed, pulling the ship down, underneath the mechanical fortress, slowly drifting towards Anaheim.  
  
"We have to get on top of it. Maybe Draguanus has employed the same basic design as the last one." Tanya remarked, prompting Mallory to fly a little higher. Unfortunately, upon trying to blast the behemoth, the shot was reflected off an invisible shield and flew into the distance.  
  
"Shields!" Mallory grunted, pulling the Aerowing down again, forcing Tanya and Grin to hold on to the seats as it rapidly descended to dodge another booming shot.  
  
"There must be a way to penetrate that shield…" Tanya began to ponder, buckling herself back in her seat and looking over some schematics, trying to pick up any information on the ship that was possible.  
  
Inside, Duke was still locked in combat with Bladebeak, blades clashing almost in a continuously flurry of moves. Duke knew that he couldn't spend his time dueling when he could hear the booming sounds of weapons firing outside, so he decided to relocate the battle. Having a very foggy memory of the way he was brought here from the dungeon, Duke began to backpedal down the hallways, Bladebeak chasing after him, yelling insults to his name. At one corner, Duke had to spin around instantaneously to deflect three quick sword thrusts, before slashing the lights out. As the hallway darkened, Duke shut off his blade to hide in the blackness while Bladebeak swung viciously to light the hall and locate his enemy. However, in his blind slashing, he hit panels in the walls, igniting a small fire and a wall of sparks that gave Duke a few moments to put distance between his enemy. He came to a familiar T-shaped intersection, with a door marked "dungeon". Duke tried to open it, but it was password protected. Not in the mood for code creaking, Duke activated his blade and thrust it into the steel, slowly slicing the door open. Duke noticed that this door was made of the steel alloy that Draguanus and crew had stolen earlier. The two prisoners both caught sight of the door beginning to bend and melt with a flaming blade poking through.  
  
"Duke!" Nosedive yelled, running to the bars of his cell. However, the moment of excitement had quickly died away when the sword was hastily removed from the door, the sounds of further combat coming from the hall.  
  
"DUKE!" Nosedive screamed, worrying about his friend and listening intently to the sounds of blades clashing. He knew that Bladebeak had rejoined the battle against Duke.  
  
"Don't give up Duke!" Wildwing joined to the encouragement, unable to do anything himself. They both anxiously awaited the results of the contest.  
  
Outside in the hall, Duke struggled to catch up with the flying blade of his enraged opponent. Slashing the wall right and left, Bladebeak swung aimlessly, determined to finish the fight. Duke kept having to back up, turning around a corner and unexpectedly entering the docking bay once again, the large arena bright with the lights and the Raptor, dominating the scene with its sheer bulkiness. Duke wasn't disappointed when Bladebeak came running out, chasing after him, quickly flashing his blade into Duke's and leaping overhead, trying to deliver a couple swift kicks to the face and shoulders. Duke was able to parry by rolling back, grabbing a spare metal bar and tossing it towards Bladebeak. Upon meeting Bladebeak's blade, the projectile split like a hot knife through butter. Bladebeak dashed again, trying to alternate between low and high blows, but Duke tactfully dodged and blocked each swing of the blade. The gray mallard was stuck on the defensive, with no good opportunity to throw in a counter attack. He spun around, leaping off a nearby wall and heading over Bladebeak, delivering a kick to the back of the bird's neck. He stumbled forward, hitting his head on the wall, and growling a primitive snarl at his attacker. Lunging forward, he swung at a variety of angles and heights, but Duke remained confidently able to block each blow. Duke, backing up close to the wing of the Raptor, deciding to take a leap and head up higher for a slight advantage. On the way up, Duke felt a pain in his hand when Bladebeak grazed it with the blade of his weapon Duke ignored the bleeding wound as he landed with a soft thud on top of the Raptor's wing. Bladebeak easily scaled the side of the plane, joining Duke on top and giving a small grin.  
  
"Give it up, old one! Quit fleeing your destiny!"  
  
"Sorry, Bluntbeak. Last minute change in plans."  
  
Using Nosedive's insult enraged the enemy. Bladebeak made the capitalizing mistake of charging, overlooked by his blind range. Duke swung to his feet, tripping Bladebeak as he fell off the wing down to the floor of the docking bay below, Duke catching the blade as it tried to follow. The gray mallard now had possession of both blades and dove down to check on Bladebeak. Even though he was unconscious, the duck was not dead, a relief to the hero.  
  
"Nasty fall, but you'll be alright." Duke gave him a celebratory wink and smile and headed back towards the dungeon. He almost got lost if it wasn't for the damaged dungeon door that identified its location in the monochromatic corridors. Taking a couple minutes, Duke was finally able to melt a hole in the door and enter the room, to the praise of his two allies.  
  
"Duke! Great job!" Wildwing congratulated his friend as Duke slashed the bars off the cage.  
  
"Duke, you are the best!" Nosedive joined in. "Did you even know you're my hero?" he sang out, gaining a smile and nod from Duke.  
  
"You might want to practice a little more Kid. I don't think the Smoking Guns are going to ask you to go on tour with them yet!" Duke and Nosedive shared a quick laugh. Wildwing just gave a curt smile, already starting to feel out of the loop. Even Nosedive, upon seeing his brother, started to turn away, a frown growing on his face. Duke looked between the two of them, confused about the next step to take. "Guess I'll have to be the leader." he thought to himself.  
  
"Alright, I got an idea. Let's break aboard the Raptor, and see what information we can dig out about this flying hunk of junk!" Duke tried to rally his two allies to the cause, but they only gave half-hearted replies. Nevertheless, the three ducks headed back to the docking bay, where the Raptor was still parked.  
  
Stopping by the side of the ship, Duke froze in his tracks. Bladebeak was no longer there, only a couple small droplets of blood and sweat remained. All of a sudden, the ducks all turned over to the corner, where laughter was afoot. Bladebeak stood, looking at them all and standing next to a button that seemed to amuse the duck, as he fingered it anxiously, like he was awaiting the right time to push it.  
  
"This isn't good…" Nosedive said, heading away from the other two allies out of some odd premonition. He didn't know why, but Nosedive found more comfort towards the wall of the docking bay.  
  
"Give up!" Wildwing aimed his puck blaster at the figure, but he didn't even flinch a feather at the threat.  
  
"Bladebeak, won't you just give up!?" Duke groaned, pulling out his duck saber, and standing at readiness.  
  
"Not this time Duke. I'm through with fighting you the clean way. It's going to get dirty…NOW!" he screamed and all of a sudden, the ship started to tilt at an angle. The ducks slid down across the floor as the Raptor screeched to a resting spot near the side of the room.  
  
"What are you doing!?" Duke yelled, before noticing that we directly on the doors to the docking bay. Within an instant, fear struck his eyes, because he realized what was going to happen.  
  
"Kid! Take it!" Duke threw his blade at Nosedive instantaneously, who took it, confused and looking on from the side of the room in worry.  
  
All of a sudden, Bladebeak gave a triumphant yell as he pushed the bottom and the doors to the docking bay slid open. Nosedive was the only one who was not in danger, being barely out of range and he winced in horror as he saw Duke and Wildwing lose their balance, and fall into the dusty plains of outer Anaheim below.  
  
"DUKE! WING!" Nosedive screamed, tears running down his face, petrified with fear as he heard their screams and saw the two bodies plummeting to the earth. Before he could see the results, Bladebeak closed up the doors, locking Nosedive inside…alone.  
  
"Well, that was easy enough." Bladebeak reached into a com in his belt and held it up to his face. "Mission accomplished, Lord Draguanus."  
  
"Perfect, the ducks are gone I take it?"  
  
"Two of the three. Only the youngest remains, but I'm going to rip him to shreds without breaking a sweat."  
  
"Delightful. The ducks will be unable to get in the ship at all and I will have Anaheim at my mercy. You must hurry and take care of the other one, before he does any damage."  
  
"Don't worry, Lord Draguanus, I'm on it. Bladebeak out." The duck rejected the com and took his sword out, pointing it towards the paralyzed teen, still kneeling on the floor with flowing tears.  
  
"How could you?" Nosedive shot the duck a crushed look that would have brought pity to even the cruelest soul. Bladebeak stopped for a minute and he just looked at the pitiful duck in front of him.  
  
"You're not making this fun for me, you know." He said, dryly, tapping his feet, seeming as if he was waiting for Nosedive to finish crying.  
  
"You're a monster…" Nosedive bellowed, clutching the sword defensively against his chest and shutting his eyes.  
  
"Don't feel bad, young duck. I'm only doing it for business. I got no grudge against you."  
  
"Like that's supposed to make me feel better?!" Nosedive shot up, facing the other duck with rage flashing in his eyes. "YOU KILLED MY FRIEND! MY BROTHER!"  
  
"Look, if it makes you feel any better, your Mighty Duck friends rescued both of them…" he replied, lacking any compassion in his neutral tone. "Isn't that obvious?" Nosedive stood, staring at the bay door and wiping away his tears. He was going to be forced into a fight and he knew it.  
  
"I'll give you a choice since I'm so merciful." Bladebeak grimaced as he took a step closer to the teen, putting his blade away. "You can either die at my hand or jump…" he stepped up closer, now circling Nosedive, practically whispering to him. "Your friends will rescue you. You won't loose face…don't need to feel ashamed. No one's going to lash at you for backing out of a fight…I won't say a word."  
  
Nosedive felt humiliated. Here was a grown duck, trying to convince him to surrender and give up. He heard Bladebeak on the com, saying that if he was gone, the ducks would have no chance to enter the ship and disable it. The voices were spinning in his head, the taunting was beating him down, trying to tear his self-esteem apart, bit by tiny bit. The duck realized at this instant that the situation was real, that the jokes weren't going to save him, nor could his teammates protect him. Wildwing wasn't there to make it better and Duke wasn't able to hop in, taking over and telling him that he was learning. It was time to be an adult, put away the insecurities, and fight for every breath in a world that was more than willing to take you out. Nosedive honestly didn't like to fight, but he realized that it was either give up as the representative for his team and jump, or do what he could, fighting to the bitter end.  
  
"I can't give up…" Nosedive whispered to himself, trying to reassure his mind of the decision he was making. With every ounce of strength left in his vocal cords, he turned to Bladebeak, whose twisted grin was trying to tear him apart. Nosedive refused to give up; he had to fight it all.  
  
"I won't run…I'm going to fight you." Nosedive said, almost in a defeatist attitude. He had no choice anymore. It was destiny.  
  
"I have to hand it to you kid, you really are brave. Foolish, but brave…" Bladebeak said as he withdrew his weapon. The flaming blame had burst forth once again, but before it could strike Nosedive, he was holding Duke's blade up to block it. They stood in gridlock, seconds away from igniting a battle…for both of their lives.  
  
"Did you get them?!" Mallory screamed back to Grin, praying that he was able to save their friends lives.  
  
"Yes." He replied, depositing Duke and Wildwing on the floor of the Aerowing, both awake, but on the verge of hyperventilating from the devastating fall. He put down his puck launcher and tended to the two of them. Duke was the first to regain his orientation and started to jump up.  
  
"KID!"  
  
"He's still…inside." Tanya looked at him painfully. She was worried herself.  
  
"We have to retreat!" Mallory yelled from the pilot's seat. The Aerowing had already taken several blasts worth of damaging and only through a few lucky techniques we she able to avoid being completely destroyed.  
  
"But… Dive! We have to rescue him!" Wildwing yelled, standing up and running to the front of the plane, desperately looking for any sign of his brother.  
  
"You're the only two that came out. Nosedive's still in there…" Mallory softened her tone a bit, starting to back away from Draguanus' warship. "We have to retreat Wildwing…we don't stand a chance against it."  
  
Wildwing paused for a minute, taking on excruciating look towards Draguanus' new warship, in all its massive glory, as it slowly descended upon Anaheim, still several miles away. The white mallard felt the pain of words said long ago, but none of that was as powerful as the worry of loosing him. Now Nosedive was locked up inside a behemoth of a ship, without any way that the ducks could reach him. For once, the team knew deep inside that their youngest member was their only hope. They could only hope that they've given him everything he needed to make it on his own before they would be able to help him. Wildwing lowered his head, fighting back the tears, having no idea if his brother was dead or alive anymore.  
  
"Go, Mallory…go." His voice cracked as he fell into the neighboring chair. The Aerowing quickly retreated at full pace, back to the Pond. The Mighty Ducks had to figure something out, because no matter where they went in the city, on the horizon was Draguanus' twisted mass of metal, ominously moving closer, haunting the city on the horizon. What was worse is the ducks had no idea how to make it inside the machine, much less destroy it. All their faith was in the teenager, one of jokes and pranks, now suddenly tossed into a situation beyond his control, fighting for life and struggling for the future of himself, the Mighty Ducks, and the Earth… 


End file.
